UNITED STATES ANTARCTIC RESEARCH PROGRAM

Administered by the National Science Foundation

NSF 63-3

Antarctic Status Report No. 47 for November 1962

NOTE: This report is submitted for the information of the recipients only. In general, material included herein is sum- marized from regular reports by personnel of Federal agencies univ- ersities and institutions carrying out scientific research in Ant- arctica under National Science Foundation grants and with logistic support by the U.S. Navy. In order to assure that the work of the individual scientists and their institutions is clearly understood, it is required that prior to using any of this material for public dis- semination, such use be discussed with the Office of Antarctic Programs in the National Science Foundation or with the originators of the re- search as named.

CONTENTS EAM

General 0009000 2 Biology 3 Cartography 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 S 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 Geology • • 0 0 0 • 0 0 • 0 0 0 • 0 0 0 0 0•O9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 Glaciology 0 0 • • • • 0 • 0 0 • • • 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 Gravity and Magnetics 0 0 0 0 • 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 ?Iet.eorolor 0 0 0 0 S 0 0 0 • 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 • 0 • 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 • 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 Station Seismology 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 Upper Atmospheric Physics 12 U.S. Scientists at Foreign Stations 00 00 0 0000 16 Climat 0 0 • • 0 0 9 • 0 0 • 0 • • 0 0 • 9 0 9 9 0 9 0 9 9 • 0 • 0 0 9 9 GENERAL yd Station: Summer activities were at the peak level during the rncnth with most of the 1963 personnel replacements being trained in various station operations. Summer geological parties were established in the Pensacola and. Sentinel Mountains.

Visitors for the month included Dr. Gould, Chairman of the Committee on Polar Research, Father Hesburgh, President of Notre Dame University and Member of the National Science Foundation Board, and Secretary of Commerce Hodges

USNS Eltanin: Cruise 6 began with the departure of thefrom Valparaiso, Chile on November 23 Enroute to Punta Arenasr where a thr€e man NBC t elevision crew embarked on November 30 9 oceanographic and hiolcgical stations were taken and trawling operations conducted,, The NBC crew i.e from the Chet Huntley show and will be aboard the ship for about two weeks gather- ing material for a half-hour television program. The main area to be corred by Cruise 6 is between 530 and 630 South Latitude, and between 550 and 60° West Longitude.

Scientific results will be reported in a later monthly si.trep after the cruise is completed

Hallett Stationfol Thanksgiving Day was marked by the arrival at Hallett cf 12 emperor penguins. On 4 separate occasions about 50 w€:e seen dw r.g th :last, days of the month.

The scenery offshore is slowly changing as summer melt uncovers rock as The open leads of the ice pack have apparently moved to within about one mile of the shore0

McMurdo Stati on: The five initial logistic support flights necessary for the establishment of the Eights Station were completed in early November. Air drops of fuel, 26 of which will be required in all, started about the middle of the month, with C-130 flights planned for December.

An unusually large amount of fast ice in McMurdo Sound has slowed down the progre3s of the ship convoy. The work of logistic flights has been hampered by three aircraft incidents causing the loss of one helicoper and the possible loss of two DC3 planes. In addition two C-130 planes were re- turned to the U.S. for special maintenance problems.

With the exception of the University of Wisconsin Pole traverse and the Ohio State University traverse from Byrd Station to Whitmore Mountain, all field parties have commenced operations. Field equipment issue from the McMurdo warehouse has been accomplished with a minimum of difficulties, al- though many of the small field toboggans were not sufficiently reconditioned for reliable service0

The power wagons used at the stations continue to give trouble-free service while the Nodwell track failures have been much less frequent. A regular schedule of preventive maintenance has been started on all vehicles.

The USARP administrative staff has been busy arranging for field trans- portation and housing for summer personnel, receiving press and visitors, communicating with field parties and moving the essential cargo inbound frori New Zealand.

Pole St§,t The first aircraft arrived at the Pole November 5 with most of the new station personnel aboard. By the middle of the month most of the 1962 wintering personnel had departed0

In ceremonies conducted at this station November 26, Rear Admiral relieved Rear Admiral Tyree as Coniander, U.S. Naval Support Forces, ntarcca0

A great many visitors arrived at the Pole Station during the month in- cluding Dr0 Gould and Father Heburgh0 Also,) an ABC TV crew spent, some time at the Pole filming the scientific program and support functions.)

Wilkes Station: The inland field traverse reached Vostok, the USSR inland station, on November 20, and soon after began their return trip north- ward to the Wilkes St,ation3

BIOLOGY

Hallett Station:

Ohio Stla University: Equipment and material for the micro- biological program arrivd on the 8th of. November, Plots, one yard by one yard, were laid out in lichen-populated areas and to each plot fertilizer was added, which included minerals and various sources of carbon and nitrogen, Thereafter, on a weekly basis the plots were examined quantitatively and qualititatively for microorganisms. A similar series of plots were also laid out in lichen-free areas. The viability in Antarctic soils was tested by six organisms introduced from the U0S0 with samples examined daily for the first week,, A pond in the moraines of a glacier near Edisto Inlet was sampled for microorganisms and microbial activity. Ohio Staeverj: Mi.croclimatological recording equipment for the lichen ecology program has been in operation since November 11 wish a portable field generator The quadrants of lichen, marked for growth rate measurements a year ago have been rephotographed. Also a number cf lichen algae, some free living algae, and soil fungi have been isolated in pure culture. Weekly moisture content is being determined for three different licher species, a. moss and an alga. A i,rip was made to the Vjct.orja Land Coast opposite Hallett Penin sula where lichens were collected and a study of the veg c.taUon cf some glacier moraines made

New .3 Zea1aram: This work centers about the continuation of the Adelie penguin studies,, The rookery has bri fully surveyed ;r-i. the total breeding population recounted by colonies, 3 rd ciev aJ. rd re settlement are being evaluated by checking the rookery frr lrL edin in places where they were not banded. Partner and netsite retnt.icn studies were carried out on 20 colonies. This aspect will indicate the de- gree and frequency of temporary partnerships and pcssibi, si gr1 fc.anc .... these casual bonds. Further embryological work has been limited i.o the si. g.. nificance of yolk survival factors in newly hatched chicks, this being linked with the behavior studies of birds of various age groups.

General popJ..a.tion and behavior studies of the skuas have also been made, One hundred. and sixty banded birds were counted, mostly-on their original territory. The skuary has been studied to define the changes in the territories that have taken place since 1957

A study has been made of the skins of skuas and snow petrels ob- tained on the west side of Edisto Inlet.

McMurdo Station:

gLoallazical University): The general main=, tenance of the biology laboratory continues. Improvements made on the water distillation and sump unit included a change to a plug-in type circuit., re- placing the former circuit design to make maintenance easier, and increase production of distilled water. New fuel lines were run into the building for oil heating.

BejceP() Bsho: A successful toboggan trip was made 150 miles north along the Victoria Land Coast, The known locations of springtails 5- and mites in the McMurdo area were extended to this distance and to ele- vations of 5000 feet. Similar studies on two- and three-day trips were also made to the area between Skelton Glacier and Granite Harbor 9 again extending the southern limits of the springtail and mite species. The ecological data collected included continuous 24.hour temperature record- ings from a variety of habitats, and soil moisture content and humidity at many of the sites

Aerial trapping nets were flown in the McMurdo vicinity, and on a few flights to inland sites.

Universjiof California at D avis: Primary productivity measure- ments, using the C- method, were taken in late November at Lake Vanda, con- tinuing the past seasons work. Studies in the lake included detailed ex- periments testing the uptake of radioglucose and radioacetate at several different depths.

Several one-day trips were made to Cape Evans, where temperature sensing and radiation equipment were installed. Lakes Skua and Alga in this area are being examined periodically to evaluate the melt progress.

Bird Island, outh Georgia :

Johns Hopkins University and Bishop Museum: The biological in- vestigators arrived in South Georgia November 25 but were prevented from landing on Bird Island by bad weather until December 10 The program will consist of ornithological and entomological studies.

Stanford Univers: In the large scale fish metabolism ex- periments a plexiglass dome k feet square was sealed over the 100gallon aquarium containing 66 TreELatomus bernacchi.i, preventing any contact between the air and the water. By the use of a reservoir the water of the sample was replaced every 15 minutes for 2112 hours. Following this, the dome was removed and the fish were run individually in standard metabolism chamber pro- cedures. It was found that the fish consumed more oxygen per body weight in a given time individually in the small chamber than together under the plastic dome. This experiment was repeated a few days later using 32 T. 12raacchil. All fish used in the metabolism experiments were obtained at 270m depth The catch from this site remained nearly constant during the month although the proportion of the T. bernacchii and the T. centronotus varied, with the latter increasing.

Two mature male Weddell seals, one of which was found dead ±ioi nat- ural causes near Tent Island, were butchered for bait. As a special project, maximum recording f..thorne tars were .wed on the backs of two Weddell seals and several divts of more than 300 rn were recorded. Temperature of adult Weddell seals, and cf a1 pups taken soon aft€r birth were almost identical (9950j1) at 37r.5C

Univ,E^-rsitlr Three ses of horning experiments were carried out with rnae AdLe perguins 9 released in the canter of Ross Ice Shelf, on the Victoria Land Plateau and on ths Mari Bird Land Piaeau0 rw.ty birds were r acd one at. a tme a each site, and their movements plotted by trianguIaton for 3 to q km0 Ir each e.xprtment directions taken werg, consistent and we2a., straight

Th human physc1cgy pro garn was continued with. 16 records of we.)&: f, 7,empe:ature pulse and sk.nfo1d. 61 interviews for comfort. 1ies and 57 ir.tervLLew for motion studies and sleep- ing habits0

Trk the bacteriological programs 1? samples from the human throat were processed and 123 samples of colli bacilli processed from gasrointestina1 tracts; 90 from perguinsc, 9 from Weddell seals and 24 from Antarctic skuas

Miscellaneous biological programs included observations of temperatures of 3 Weddeli sais and counts of banded penguins

CARTOGRAPHY

Geo1gia!rv! Topo West, a program designed to obtain sur face control of the mountain area of northeastern Victoria, Land using electronic distancmeaeuring equipment was completed on November 28 The operatic•ns were carried out using two Army turbine bli.p,er Tir Ivy ... four mountain peak stations were occupied in a 692-mile course with 45 photo identified peaks intersected. The base camp was set up first near Rennick Bay on the 13th of November, then moved to Mt Dalton area near the Oates Coast on the 17th. Eight astronomical fixes were obtained for absolute po- sitions.

The two Snocats left about 15 miles west of Rennick Glacier at the con elusion of the 195960 Victoria Land traverse were located during this survey. One Snocat had very little snow cover and the second was about half covered. Photographs were taken and snow accumulation stakes which had been put out by the traverse party were re.measured0 7-

EOL0GY

The base camp for this geological party was located in the Patuxent Range of the Pensacola Mountains at 840461S., 64030W 0 The camp was established by a C...130 flight direct from McMurdo, preceded by an R4D reconnaissance flight from Byrd Station. The main mountain mass of this range trends approximately east and west for about 50 miles, with isolated nunataks located out to 40 miles north and 30 miles south of the main range. Slightly metamorphosed interbedded sandstones, flintstones and shales, without fossils, are intensively folded with the axis generally plunging south with low to moderate angles.,

Stakes for movement and accumulation studies have been set up across the local glacier where the camp is located. The mean annual temperature at the camp, as found at 20m depth in a handdri1led auger hole, is .2708°C0

Ohio State Uive sity: The main camp was established, on the plateau south of Mount Weaver at 870S0 9 152,50W 0 at an elevation of about 8000 feet. Temperaturof :J60F was encountered originally while the av- erage temperature throughout November , was about 50F and winds about 35 m0ph0 Trails were established to Mt. Weaver, Mt. Wilbur and to a newly discovered extinct volcano. The Mt. Weaver section starts with a granitic basement having a pronounced erosional surface. This is overlaid in the south by a conglomerate and in the north by a basal diabase sill. The re- mainder of the section includes the "Discovery Ridge" black shale with al. ternating sandstones, shales, coals and diabass sills. The coal beds at tam 20-foot thickness and are apparently of better quality than those en- countered in the Hui-lick Mountains., The fosiljferous wood found in the sandstone and the Glossopteris fossils in the upper strata appear smilar to those obtained in the Mt. Glossopteris formation in the Horlick Mountains.

Mt. Wilbur is chiefly granite with xenoliths of iietasedimentary rocks similar to the Mt. Wearer basement0 Erratics of sandstone, shale and diabase occur near the summit.

Almost directly south of Mt. Weaver is an extinct volcano half of which has been eroded. The rock constituents are chiefly olivine basalt, yellow tuff and tuff breccii 9 while jumbles of scoria occur within the pre- sumed chimney. The yellow tuff appears quite similar to that from Mt. Sidley in the northern part of Byrd Land0

Universi t oinnesot: The main camp in the Sentinel Mountains was established at 79000 1 S, 85030W on the 16th of November0 During initial. landing for the location of the northern trail party at 77029 1S , 860261W the RLi,D crashed, with loss of the plane though there were no personal injuries or serious damage to the equipment, The second flight successfully landed and established the party on the :19th,, A third group, the Hermitage trail party, was located soon afterwards at 79° J44°S, 85050 ewo

Rutgers Universily: The program of soil research is well under way near McMurdc with observations obtained at Marble Point, Lower Wright Valley, and at the Loop Morzarqs in Wright Valley. In the Lower Wright Valley soils were investigated on moraines of different ages to determine the degree of soil development with time TemperaLue profiles have been obtained on a 2khour basis for various soils, with samples for moisture determinçition ob- tained at the maximum and ninimum of the d.urral temperature cycle, the moisture content being determined in the holor laboratory at McMurdo. Sim- ilar studies were also conducted at the Loop Moraine and Wright Valley with some soil samples tested for total conductivity and pH0

Texas Technological. College: Radio communication with the Shackle ton Glacier geological party was gnerai1y limited in November to planes flying over the area, The party has made satisfactory progress working up the west side of the glacier, and will continue south to the Bennett platform, then return down the east side of the glacier to conclude the work at the gla- cier terminus0

A new contraction site for the patterned ground program was established in Taylor Valley, where measurements of sand wedge growth were taken and continual ground temperatures obtained by ther mistors located at various depths in tte polygon aeas 0 Air temperatures at in over the surface are also being recorded. These recording units are operated by battery-powered equipment with an expected lifetime of about a year.

Contraction measurements were continued at the established sites in Taylor and Beacon Valleys,, and in Cape Evans. A trip was also made to the Asgard Range to study bedrock polygons and the older forms of patterned ground. Several soil samples were obtained for moisture analysis.

GLACIOLOGY

yrd Station:

U.S.Weather Bu : The average net change of 36 snow stakes dur- ing the period from October 27 to November 27 was +2.12 cm. -9

Ellsworth Station:

+3.45 cm.U.S0 Weather Bureau: The average net change on 48 snow stakes was

Hallett Statjo:

Wether, Bureau: The average net change on 15 snow stakes was 2.O3 cm,

Murdo Statj:

University of Michi gan : Progress of the glaciological survey party crossing the front of the Ross Ice Shelf has been slowed down by atoms, low, visibility and refraction conditions. Renieasurements are being made of the movement stakes established in 1959.1960 by a previous University of Michigan party0

University of Wtscon Camp Wisconsin, established last summer on Roosevelt Island, was reoccupied on November 90 A Jamesway hut was erected and the vehicles dug out of the snow and put in running condition by the mid- die of the month. Seismic reflection surveys and resistivity measuremnts were started, the latter being delayed somewhat by magnetic disturbances. The base line located last year was remeasured and the strain network resurvey started. Twenty cm of snow accumulated during November.

South Pole Station:

U.S. Weather Bureau: Precipitation chemistry, snow accuxnuiat:.on and snow density measurements were carried out on schedule,,

The snow accumulation since February 23, 1962, has been as follows

New. snow stake field 0000000eo l96 cm Old snow stake field 0000 0 0000 17.7 Weather Bureau stakes 00 000 00 19.6

: is Station:

U.S. Weather Bureau: The monthly measurements of snow stakes were obtained on schedule. 10

GRAVITY AND MAGNETICS

MoMurdo StaLori:

University of Cousin: Thirty-two new gravity stations have been occupied on Ross Island, Minna Bluff and in the foothills of the Royal Society Range The new magne r.omet.er arrived and after some maintenance problems, is now in operating condition, awaiting est flights.

METEOROLOGY

U.S. Weather Bureau personnel are stationed at Byrd, Hallett, Pole E11sworth Wilkes Stations and onthe Eltjr0 At Wilkes and Ellsworth they are assisted by Australian and Argentine personnel, respectively. U0S 0 Navy aerological personnel take the upper air observations at Hallett and McMurdo Stations

rd Station^- A radiosonde average height of 32,660 m was obtained for November. Two forecacte per day ar beng made to assist in airraft opera. tion

The ozone equipment has been put in order and should be in operation early in December,,

Haijett The average height of 54 radiosondes was 24,971 m0 There were no radionietereoride or ozonesondes flown during the month.

The ozone surface program crontinueenormalLy., but the Doson total ozone equipment is still mop ativ0

ido Station:

UeSoNaj VO, For standard surface and upper air ohservat..cns see Climat0

Texas Western Cee: A new series of 60 rockets for upper air meteorological soundings arrived, and the first one was fired on November 1 This series is showing a marked improvement in performance over the previous rockets and a better coverage of data was obtained in November than in any previous month. The altitudes attained were generally .over 200,000 feet, de- spite the lack of gas generator charges which did not arrive in time for the November firing. A 16-foot addition th the launcher has improved the rocket 11 -

and instrument preparation procedure and the GND unit at the remote track- ing site is now operating better after an overhaul of the antenna control system.

U .S. Weather Bureau: Using albedo equipment mounted in the R5D plane, almost 2000 miles of coverage over the ice pack north of McMurdo has been obtained on 9 flights. Although no flights extended to the extreme north limit of the ice pack, two were taken north of Cape Adare0 Heavy clouds have limited the albedo coverage in many cases0

The R5D plane returned to Christchurch New Zealand, in late November. Isolated flights over the pack ice may be possible later in the season

___Wisconsin: An investigation of the local meteor- ology of the dry valley lakes was started on the 11th of November with the installation of evaporation trays on the surface of Lakes Bonney and Vanda0

Temperatures and conductivity soundings in Lake Bonney show es- sentially horizontal isothermal and isohaline surfaces. This lake has a maximum temperature of 80C at 13 meters, decreasing to -2.8 at the bottom9 32 meters. Radiation data indicates a positive balance at all times when the sun is visible and negative when the sun is shaded by the mountains.

At Lake Vanda water temperatures increase from the surface to the bottom with an intermediate layer 21 rn thick which is isothermal, indicating free convection in this strata. The ice surface is entirely sculptured and has no remnant candle ice such as characterizes the Lake Bonney surface. Albedo flights over these lakes are planned in December.

South Pole Staj: The weather has been generally good with no major storms, and light to moderate winds. The rapid warming of the upper atmosphere continued until about mid-November. Fifty-nine radiosondes at- tained an average height of 31,054 m0

The surface radiation program continued on schedule. Weekly calibra- tions are taken and the scaling is up-to-date. The infrared equipment has been dismantled and shipped to McMurdo to go to the Eights Station. The automatic ozone surface recording has been discontinued during camp construc- tion but the Dobson total ozone is operating well and giving good quality readings. One ozoriesonde flight was taken to acquaint the new crew with techniques and procedures. Radio fall-out equipment has been suspended for the month. ,

Wilkes Station:

U.SI.—Weather Bureau: The radiosonde flight averages continued to increase with the increase of upper air temperature, averaging 31,611 m for 60 flights in November. At the highest levels attained the winds were light and easterly0 Relocation and reinstallation of the Lydroneal generator were completed and it became operational on November 12 Radiation program con- tinued on schedule, and the sferics program operated very well. Total ozone measurements were taken on the 15th.

STATION SEISMOLOGY

Byrd Station: Long perod seismometers have been moved into the new seismi.c vault but operations were delayed waiting on a special shipment of wire.

Hallett Statio Sixty earthquakes were recorded during the month. The equipment generally worked well although the long period vertical seis- mometer show----d some ;instablity. A new dyng method has been adopted which produces prints of better quality.

South Pole Station: One hundred and twelve earthquake phases were re- ported, though five days of recordings were lost due to power failures. The natural periods of the seismometers were determined with the following re- sults: vertical Benioff moving coil seismometer, 065 sec.; horizontal Wi1scnLamison north-south, 3.53 se-..; horizontal Wi1sonLamison 9 east west, 360 sec.

Wilkes Station: Short-period microseisms were qui.a prominent during November and tended to mask many of the weaker earthquake phases. It is quite possible that the pack ice at the mouth of the bay is now open since there is a direct correlation of the microseism disturbance with the ob- served state of the sea.

UPPER ATMOSPHERIC PHYSICS

Aurora and Airflow. Arctic Institute of North America: During the month there was considerable construction work done in the auroral tower 13 and office, including both workbenches and storage shelves, better insula- tion in the tower, and relocation of the patrol spectrograph.

Geoagnetism, Coast and Geodetic Surve y: Twelve absolute magnetic observations were made, the declination and horizontal field being taken with the QHM equipment and the total field with the proton magnetometer. The averages of the absolute values were as follows:

declination 700241E horizontal field 16298 g. vertical field 584072 g0

______National Bureau of Standards: Installa- tion of the riometer, which is to form part of the conjugate point program with Great Whale River, Canada, is in process. The 30mc antenna is nearly completed

Ionospheric Soundinzs. National Bureau of Standards .: Hourly numerical values for f0F2 were recorded for 36 percent of the month, spread echoes accounting for 37 percent of the missing values. The maximum median value for f0F2 was 6.4 mc at 0700 local time. On November 12 very unusual stratification lasting from 0600 to 0900 local time was observed in the F region. Similar stratifications were observed on records obtained October 17 and also in November 1961. There were no unusual activities at, the time in the other upper atmosphere disciplines, the magnetics being un usually quiet.

Radio Noise, National Bureau of Standards: Due to power falures much loss of data resulted and no trends in atmospheric noise could be termined. Diurnal noise levels, however, did appear to fluctuate at the higher frequencies. The program has been indefinitely discontinued awaiting a new local power unit.

VLF and ELF. Stanford UnivetL: Equipment operation hasbe quite good with very few maintenance problems. VLF activity has been very low with little chorus or whistler activity and only slight hiss activity. The construction of additional VLF facilities has started and should be con, pleted in December.

Hallett Statjo: Cosmic Rays. University of Maryland (Arctic Institute of N : The scintillator was put into operation on November 5 with a counu.ng rae cf I k caibrated with a i7 kc crystal oscillator and the raOi.oac.tiire source located at selected distances. There are some thterferer.e problems remaining wh.ch are being studied. The neutron ur.t•er a herg cal.brated once a week0 The earth current program is still in operation althougft the esa ice where the eauipment is located, is expected to go out 5hortiy0 Geodurv: The A skania drive motor nas been ovrau 1d. and replaced. There has been some malfunction of the thrmcst.a t wb: c. euLi.d ."a c.i . . iif the ipiisrt

lone phric Absor tnArcj Ic Ins titute of Ammisca: Two days data were lost due to rometer equipment breakdown. Numerous ab sortons were noted on November 1 between 1240 and 2233 GMT, and also to a smaller extent, on November 2 and 22

.2 h Undings. NatignalBegtars (New Ze aland observers): The ionosphere equipment troubles during November were only minor ones and the ionosphere was r1ifAve1y stable during the month. Oc.. tober data. has ben scalel, with .reu.lis as follows , daa lost, 8 hours, thtal abscrptcn, 8 hours average f 0F2,, to 6 c; spread echo present 92 percent of the time; F1 layer present 47 percent of the time; Frnin scale below 1. me 22 perer.t of the time Sporadic F was present 20 percent of the time, the oommon types being R A C., S L and H.

I- The VLF equip- niert has been working satisfactorily and the only data lost was due to some timing trcuble.

McMurdo Station:

Cosmic RBartQ1 Research Foundation: Power failures aver- aging nearly one per day caused occasional equipment breakdown. An automatic system which monitors these power failures has been built and located in USARP quarters, so that a quick response to night power failures is possible. Packaging of equipment in the old cosmic ray building near the reactor has been started,

Ionospheric Absorortion, DcElae Aircraft Co.: Operation of the 10 mc riometer has finally been discontinued because of numerous inter. ferencee and this unit is being converted to operate at 50 mc, The former 10 mc antenna has been changed and re-oriented for use with a dopplometer - 15 which has not yet arrived. The 16-foot addition to the Jamesway has been erected and the building 18 being extensively renovated.

South Pole Statiop:

GeoTn!ejs, Coat arid Geodetic Survey: Fourteen absolute meas- urements were taken using the simultaneous method. The Varian magnetometer was inoperative near the end of November and although this was repaired by replacing the crystal oscillator mixer unit, the total field base line was about 50 gammas different with the new unit s, possibly due to crystal dif ferences0 The averages of the absolute values during the month were as fol.0 lows:

declination 27022e horizontal intensity 15,930 g0 vertical intensity 569746 g total field 589954 g0

Ionospheric Absorptj2flArctjc Institute of North America: The radiometer equipment has operated satisfactorily and no unusual events were recorded.

Iono spheric Sopns, National Bureau of Standards : A low fre quency sweep unit was installed in the C3 ionosonde on the 14th of November so that the equipment now sweeps from 025 to 20 mc in 30 sscor.cds. No ef- fect below 1 mc has yet been noticed.

itâfordUniverstyional Bureau of Standards observers): Except for occasional overheating the HP oscillator equipment baF operated satisfactorily. There were some unusual emissions during the latter part o the month consisting of short tones, possibly risers, showing fall-Off of intensity toward the end.

Wilkes_Station:

Cosmic Ra-vs -/Au,stralian Pro rLyri),-, Diurnal heating and cooling of he cosmic ray hut is still a probem0 The scaler chass.s in secttcn 1. w Changed during the month but no records were lost The ,faulty- no malfunctions when put on the test setup.

Geoma retism, Coast and Geodetic Survey C

Equipment failures for the month were responsible for 6 hours v loss of rapid- ruri records, when the movement was clamped during blasting for station con=, struction then could not be unclamped3 The standard declination light, spot 16 had to be realigned also after this blasting event and a shift in base line value resulted. The thermostat and time marking set gave some trouble but these were taken care of without serious loss of recording. The variom- eter building roof has been sealed and painted0

Ionospheric Soundings National Bureau of Standards (Aistraiian observe): There has been intermittent trouble during the month, with circuit breaker for the final HT dropping out due to switching transients. Tube checks during the month showed some 25 tubes low in gain, and there were replaced. The transmitter output pulse was reshaped by the keyer ad- justment to optimum, with a reduction of power output to half. The re- ceiver gain was not increased due to trouble with spread echoes where low gain and low power seem to help.

U.S. SCIENTISTS AT FOREIGN STATIONS

USSR Mirjy Station:

Bio?oOhio State University : The exchange scientist, Dr. Matthew Pryor, reports that his biological program at Mirnyy was quite successful during November. Survey efforts have been shifted to the smaller islets in the Haswell group though no arthropods have been found in these areas to date despite the general similarity of the microclimate to Hallett Station. The soil fauna is primarily protozoa and nematodes. TABLE ICLIMAT FOR NOVEMBER 1962

Byrd Ellsworth Hallett McMurdo South Pole Wilkes Station Station_ Station Station Station Station Temperature, oc Average -220 -19.7 - 8.4 - 7.9 37.6 .10-I Highest .12.6 3.3 + 2.2 - 0.6 ..29.k + 303 Lowest 36.1 -Jo.i -20.7 -k7.2 1702 Station Pressure (inches) Average 23- 84-9 29.148 29.200 (999.1 mbrs) 20.187 28.781 Highest 24 .200 29055 29055 29.1426 20.1475 290573 Lowest 23.1440 28.95 28.78 280766 19.910 28.1443 Precipitation (inches) Tr. 0001 0.1 Tr. Tr0 0.61 Snowfall (inches) Tr. 0010 10 Tr. Tr. 6.1 Wind Prevailing Direction N SW SE NE E 7 Average Speed (knots) 14. 3 87 309 9 10.7 Fastest Mile (MPH) 43 .8 32 54 37 25 7. 509 500 3.2 Average Sky Cover (MPH) 701 5.4 N. clear days 5 9 U 7 16 7 I-a No. partially cloudy 8 6 6 15 11 6 13 8 No. cloudy 17 15 3 17 No. Days with visibility 8 14. 0 3 2 14. less than 1/4 mile No. of Radiosondes 55 kO 54 47 59 60 Avg0 height of Radiosondes 32,660 26,172 249 971 21,990 319054 31,611

All figures above have been taken from radio meassages and are unconfirmed. Sea-level pressure North defined along 00 Greenwich